Libya rival factions sit at the same table in UN peace talks

Friday 26/06/2015

Important step but disagreements remain

SKHIRAT (Morocco) - Officials from Libya\'s rival parliaments sat down at the same table for the first time on Sunday at the latest round of United Nations-backed peace talks in Morocco - a move negotiators saw as an important step to forming a unity government.

Libya has two governments and parliaments, with the internationally recognized government operating out of the country\'s east since an armed alliance known as Libya Dawn took over the capital Tripoli and declared its own government last year.

A new round of talks among the warring factions has been underway in the Moroccan coastal town of Skhirat since Friday, hosted by the United Nations in an effort to end a conflict that threatens to break up the oil-producing nation.

Nearly three weeks after U.N. envoy Bernardino Leon handed them a final draft, negotiating teams have been trying to hammer out amendments while hardliners on the ground keep fighting for a military victory.

\"We are working on the text that brings in the remarks of the two parties.\" The UN proposal calls for a one-year-long government of national accord in which a council of ministers headed by a prime minister and two deputies will have executive authority.

The House of Representatives will be the legislative body, but the accord also sees the creation of a 120-member State Council, consisting of 90 members of the Tripoli parliament.

Terms of a ceasefire, the disarmament of armed groups and their withdrawl from oil facilities and cities are also addressed.

Both sides have agreed in principle to the draft but potentially deal-breaking disagreements remain on the authority of the second chamber, the legitimacy of the House of Representatives, and who controls the commander of the national armed forces.

Four years on from the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, European countries are worried that Libya has become a haven for Islamist militants, including Islamic State.